Over the past 12 weeks, I’ve built up a general sense of interventions, actions or behaviours that move my blood pressure up or down. Last week’s readings seemed to confirm that I was on the right track, with two days in the 130s over 80s, including the lowest measurements of this project.

I really thought I was set up to close out the 12-week experiment with an even better set of numbers, do another 24-hour evaluation, and then proceed without medication.

Instead, life happened.

I was called for a foaling on Sunday night, which meant that Monday’s reading was most certainly sleep-affected. I woke up at 3:20 on Tuesday, for no reason, and couldn’t get back to sleep again. I managed to sleep until 4:20 on Wednesday. All of this was on the back of sober evening activities that were monk-like.

I started a headache on Wednesday evening that didn’t dissipate until Saturday. Years ago, I could get a few of these per year. Now it’s one every couple of years. I know from a one-day headache I had early in this experiment that the BP associated with a headache is 160 over 100.

In short, my body was out of kilter all week, which is a striking contrast with the way it was humming along perfectly on Friday last week (record low day of BP). My brain was also purring along on Friday, flowing with creativity and productivity.

I’ve previously mentioned the amount of YouTube clickbait around BP. I’m sure that some of the advice pitched as “the one thing” makes some difference, probably as part of an holistic approach. There is one thing, though, that definitely works. After roughly five minutes of longish breaths in through nose, with gentle exhale through mouth, BP will temporarily drop significantly. On Friday this week, one session of breathing got it down to 132 over 73 during the afternoon, with the day having started at 159 over 95.

My hope/expectation was that I would have more than two days this week in the vicinity of 130s over 80s. Perhaps, in the context of where I’ve come from, the numbers were better than expected, but they still don’t earn me a pass from my GP.

I’m going to take a Mulligan, a do-over, call it what you will. It’s just too depressing to end in Nowheresville.

The Week in Numbers

Sunday (post social)
BP: 154/81
Bike: Two hours, mostly zones 2 and 3

Monday
BP: 138/85

Tuesday
BP: 141/83
Bike: 65 mins in zone 2

Wednesday
BP: 143/85

Thursday
BP: 145/91
Bike: 4 x 4 (four efforts, lasting at least four minutes, at 90% of max HR)

Friday
BP: 159/95

Saturday 
BP: 153/92 (143/83)
Bike: 97 minutes on trail, mostly zones 2 and 3.

There are times I wish I could instantly access a bibliography, which would take me back to the original reference of something I recall reading. In this case, it relates to sleep quality, the summary of which is that hospital doctors on call, who are getting just a few hours of sleep, have extremely poor sleep quality. Of course, the duration of the sleep is a big contributor, but the kicker is that they know that they could be woken at any time.

On the other hand, there is a benefit to knowing when you must wake up if sleep time is limited.

I suspect that I read this in the Gospel According to Peter (Outlive by Peter Attia), but I can’t find my copy in the house, and I also cannot recall lending it to anyone. Perhaps I need a lending list before I need a bibliography.

Sleep quality of this nature was top of mind on Tuesday and Wednesday, when my BP readings were depressingly high considering the trend that I thought was in progress. On both Monday and Tuesday nights I was sure I’d be called to assist with mares foaling. I didn’t sleep at all well.

I also didn’t sleep well on Wednesday night, but that could have been more about me getting over excited about having wine for the first night this week. I had a lovely evening, but in the process probably had just one glass too much, and again didn’t sleep well.

By this point I was ready to toss the entire project. It seemed that whether I had any wine or not, I had sub-optimal sleep and higher BP readings. I should mention that it’s highly unusual for me to have two bad nights in a row. Also, my sleep pattern is that I fall asleep within a couple of minutes of my head hitting the pillow. Once or twice a week, I may wake up at some point between 1:30 and 3:30, but I always fall asleep again. Having two nights in a row was not the norm.

Of course, the one element that had been missing from my week was the Tuesday bike ride, which I missed because it was so horrendously cold, wet and windy. Even if I’d had my best winter riding gear with me, it’s possible I wouldn’t have headed out.

Back in Cape Town on Wednesday, I jumped on my bike but was no more than 15 minutes out when a mechanical failure required me to turn around. You can imagine how desperate I was by Thursday, for normal service to resume.

Thursday’s ride was the perfect opportunity to tick off the August challenge of my social mountain biking group. This involved an all-out effort for 35 minutes, bookended by warm-up and cool-down.

I had a few glasses of red wine with dinner on Thursday night, slept extremely well, and produced the lowest BP reading of this project on Friday morning. Monday’s numbers were also close to threshold, which gives some cause for positivity.

Saturday’s numbers were also slightly elevated, reflecting less-than-perfect sleep on Friday night.

On a few days this week I took a second reading in the 45 minutes to an hour after waking, following quiet time on couch getting the day started. In every case, these BP numbers were lower, which I find interesting.

There’s one week to go. If I’d been asked on Tuesday or Wednesday, I would have said I’m taking the pills. Now I’m not so sure.

The Week in Numbers

Sunday (post social)
BP: 151/89 (146/84)
Bike (rain day): One hour, mostly zone 2, with seven mins in zone 4

Monday
BP: 137/80

Tuesday
BP: 146/87
Bike: nil

Wednesday
BP: 150/93
Bike: 29 mins

Thursday
BP: 152/92
Bike: One hour on trail, of which 34 mins in zone 4

Friday
BP: 139/82 (131/79)

Saturday 
BP: 146/89 (140/85)
Bike: 90 minutes on trail, range of zones, with 18 mins in zone 4.

Many memes were birthed during the Covid years; drinking wine out of coffee mugs while on Zoom calls, the generation home-schooled by daytime drinkers, the infamous EBITDA-C, and many more. We clearly were a bored, unstimulated bunch while locked up in our houses for those months.

The practice of reporting important financial information while adjusting for the impact of Covid has come to mind while I’ve been trying to get on top of this “thynge” (read last week’s report for clarification on my use of this word). The adjustment that I have made over weekends, mentally at least, is for ‘social’.

By social I mean a late-ish night with a group of people, involving the consumption of more than a glass or two of wine. Not bottles, mind you, but enough to have an impact on sleep quality as well as leaving a slight residue the following day (I’m thinking that I may start using that phrase as a euphemism for feeling hungover).

This was the first week since I took a week off due to having a cold, that my exercise has returned to normal, even if I had to dodge rainy weather to do that. It seems as if this is reflecting in generally lower numbers, even on post-social days.

The daily BP reading is taken first thing after waking. What I’ve done on a few days is to take another reading about half an hour later, once I’ve had my cocoa drink and been on the couch with my laptop getting the day going. Interestingly, the second reading has been significantly lower on each occasion (in brackets alongside).

With two weeks left of this experiment/project, the numbers must do the talking. I don’t know if I’ll get below the threshold, but the variability in the numbers has seen some daily readings getting within sight of the target.

The Week in Numbers

Sunday (post social)
BP: 151/91
Bike: 90 mins, mostly zone 2

Monday
BP: 140/87

Tuesday
BP: 142/84
Bike: 4 x 4 (four efforts, each lasting four minutes, at 90% of max HR)

Wednesday
BP: 139/86

Thursday
BP: 150/93 (142/83)
Bike: 90 minutes on trail, of which 29 mins in zone 4

Friday
BP: 134/83

Saturday (post social)
BP: 150/89 (140/82)
Bike: 80 minutes on trail, range of zones, with a burn in zone 4.

Landmarks, by Robert Macfarlane, left the kind of impression on me that I’m flippantly tempted to compare with some kind of large-scale geographical feature. He uses language so beautifully that his sentences seem to be able to inhabit space as tangible objects. Of course, the thesis of the entire work is that the loss of words to describe particular features in the natural world is contributing to our diminished relationship with it. Language is a multi-layered contributor to the importance of the work, so it’s entirely appropriate that a writer of Macfarlane’s ilk has written this book.

Embedded in the book is a vast glossary of words that provide much richer descriptions than simply saying “stream” or “cloud” or “rain”.  

The book also contains one of the most important paragraphs I’ve ever read:

“I relish the etymology of our word thing – that sturdy term of designation, that robust everyday indicator of the empirical – whereby in Old English thynge does not only designate a material object, but can also denote ‘a narrative not fully known’, or indicate ‘the unknowability of larger chains of events’.”

“I don’t know” is a phrase I have grown to love, thanks to Piet Viljoen, especially when applied to important things that are supposedly in our field of expertise.

For me, there is a big tie-up between these.

It is in the general context of “thing” that I’m wondering if blood pressure isn’t some kind of vague proxy for the state of my nervous system, or at least of my general wellbeing.

While some of the symptoms are still lingering a little, I have shaken off last week’s cold. Consequently, my daily BP readings are lower, with some kind of ‘new normal’ forming around the 140-ish over 80-ish level. I can link the outliers to deficient sleep (either quality or quantity), which resulted from either physical disturbance (i.e. dogs wanting to be let out during the night), or immoderate consumption of red wine. In other words, factors that impact on the body’s ability to use sleep to restore the effective working of our nervous system

Weather got in the way of Saturday’s cycling, but exercise should get back to normal next week.

The bottom line is that I have a greater degree of certainty around some factors that will cause my BP to spike, but I’m still feeling my way to the changes (if they exist) that will get it low. And keep it there.

An example from a different part of the wellbeing ‘landscape’. Every couple of months, I experience growing tightness in my glutes and general hip area. If I don’t do exercises that will release this tension, I’ll end up with a headache that can last a few days. Taking analgesics will remove the headache, but if I’d taken care of my body in the first place, there wouldn’t have been any need for pills.

Attempting to self-correct myself to lower BP is partially informed by this, as well as the measurable observation that there is a certain amount of variability in daily readings. The implication is that “the unknowability of larger chains of events” is somehow at play in these pathways.

I remain curious.

Current interventions:
– no coffee (replaced with cocoa drink, made with lightly alkalised cocoa)
– moderate (mostly) wine consumption from Wednesday to Saturday only
– health and weather permitting, cycling four times per week, with the inclusion of high intensity intervals
– strength training once per week
– aiming to breath mostly through nose

The Week in Numbers

Sunday
BP: 160/100
Bike: 80 mins, mostly zone 2

Monday
BP: 140/86

Tuesday
BP: 151/87
Bike: One hour, mostly zone 2/3 with a burst in zone 4

Wednesday
BP: 143/84

Thursday
BP: 148/90
Bike: One hour, of which 28 mins in zone 4

Friday
BP: 148/88

Saturday
BP: 148/88
Bike: nil

This is the eighth week of my attempt to hack my body to reduced blood pressure. With the number 8 top of mind, it’s tempting to head off on a tangent about the ways in which the number 8 represents many layers of complexity and symbolism. It is a wonderful number, whether mathematically or visually (and supported by phenomena from the natural world).  

Rather than going on a Number 8 Road Trip – or a predictable crossroads metaphor drawing on the way that the middle lines of the digit cross over themselves – I find myself more on something of a lay-by. My journey has involuntarily been paused.

I’ve come down with a cold, which rules out the high intensity exercise that I think is making a difference. A bigger issue, though, is that higher blood pressure is a consequence of having a cold. I’ve continued taking daily readings, but they are of limited value because my blood pressure will be elevated this week, possibly regardless of what actions I take.

Given the role of nose versus mouth breathing in reducing blood pressure, I’ve tried to continue breathing through my nose, but congestion has made this difficult.

This interruption gives me the opportunity of returning, as promised, to the subject of wine. Coincidentally, congestion also impacts on one’s ability to discern flavour, so whatever form my current wine drinking takes has also had to be put on pause.

A few weeks ago, I hit bit of a low when contemplating permanent abstinence from wine. I should add that I’ve had no difficulties shedding the everyday style of wine one may drink on a casual Tuesday night while knocking together and eating a simple pasta dinner. Being teetotal for part of the week is no issue at all.

What got to me was the prospect of giving up the wines that exist on a higher plane, those representing something more individual or complex, the products of unique growing conditions and single-minded artistry. What’s also relevant is that wine is a shared activity, so there is also a social component. In my case, the social element takes another dimension, because the sharing of wine knowledge with my adult children (dare I call that education) is also a part of the household’s wine drinking.

It was while I was weighing all this that I listened to Tim Ferriss’ podcast with Cal Fussman. Cal had me laughing out loud many times while telling his story of taking on the multiple world champion boxer, Julio César Chávez.

However, it was his wine story that particularly touched me. He enabled me to get a new perspective on the non-rational, ‘feeling’ basis that makes wine important to me.

Wine is from the world of feeling and sensuousness. Yes, food is its obvious partner, for similar reasons, although I would add music, art, the written word, and others.

Cal’s wine experience was formed because of research for an Esquire magazine piece that ultimately took him ten years to write. I should add that it wasn’t the wine part that made it hard for the words to take shape. Rather, it was his proximity to the attack on the World Trade Center. Wine was interwoven with this, as you’ll find when you read his article (and read it you must, because it is excellent).

Ultimately, it was the describing of a wine, drawing on a musical analogy, that enabled him to eventually start writing the article.

Wine has been a part of my professional and social life for so long that I had come to take it for granted. To some extent, I had lost touch with how it resonated with me, and why.

If I get nothing else from this process, I am grateful for this sense of greater awareness, whether it’s the functioning of my body or the things that are important to me. I think it’s valuable to tune into the meaning that things have in our lives.

I didn’t expect this process to go through a quasi-Buddhist cycle of becoming aware of attachments, in preparation for letting go of them (or certainly being more mindful of their roles in my life), but here we are. Perhaps this place of pause is a kind of inflection point in the octo-crossover, after all.

The etymology of the Turkish word for eight, sekiz (the apparent negation of ‘eki’, the word for two), suggests that its meaning is related to the subtraction of two from a full set of 10 fingers. In this context, eight is forever two short of what is complete, the universally recognised decimal system.

Numbers are supposed to be entirely rational, and yet there is almost something poetic in the etymology of sekiz. Wine is bound by basic parameters of science. If it doesn’t adhere to them, it will be a failed, spoiled liquid. And yet wine is so much more than its measurements of pH or total acidity or alcohol. We are immersed in a world of crossovers between science and ‘feeling’.

Like a wine’s pH, my systolic and diastolic measurements will eventually have an existential impact on my life. If this project hasn’t achieved those goals in four weeks, I’ll be knocking on my GP’s door for the pills.

I can’t say I’d see that as a failure, though.

Cal is a GREAT storyteller, who delivers riveting keynote speeches. One of his superpowers is asking questions that make deep connections. Find out more here.

The Week in Numbers

Sunday
BP: 149/87
Bike: 70 mins, mostly zones 2 and 3 (with a burst in zone 4)

Monday
BP: 161/93

Tuesday
BP: 144/91
Bike: nil

Wednesday
BP: 148/91

Thursday
BP: 152/95
Bike: nil

Friday
BP: 147/92

Saturday
BP: 159/85
Bike: nil

As I’ve discovered over the past weeks, there are several variables that affect blood pressure. I’ve attempted to control for individual potentially causative factors, at the same time as trying to maintain some constants. The first of these is to measure my blood pressure as I wake up every morning, before I’ve ‘got moving’ or consumed any beverages.

I didn’t have this opportunity on Monday. At some point after 4:15, as I was slowly waking up, I heard a loud noise in the roof area, followed by the sound of running water. I dashed out of bed to see if there was already water from the burst geyser pouring down (there wasn’t), and then remembered my blood pressure measurement. This was clearly not going to be an undisturbed reading, but if nothing else I’d get some data on the influence of stressors.

Thanks to this, I can tell you that the blood pressure associated with a burst geyser is 164 over 98. The reading for Monday alongside is therefore one that was taken some time later when the immediate crisis had passed. I pondered some metaphors related to fluids under pressure inside pipes/veins and what happens when things go wrong.

Again, on Friday, there was cause for surprise early morning activity. As I left the bedroom to let the dogs out, at around 5:20, I heard my mother-in-law, Pam, calling my name. In my defence, it was not the call of extreme distress. I returned to the bedroom to get some clothes on, and told Andrea that Pam was calling. She had something at hand to pull over her pyjamas and dashed down the passage.

As things turned out, this was not my finest hour. Seeing as Pam’s unknown, but apparently not urgent, need was being attended to, I stopped to spend 30 seconds taking my blood pressure.

I duly joined Andrea in Pam’s lounge, where she was lying on the floor, having been there since she fell at some point around 22:30 the night before. Not wanting to disturb the household, she hadn’t called out until she heard me something like seven hours later.

What a Trojan. She lay on a cold, hard floor for seven hours with a badly fractured femur, and multiple fractured ribs. I still get the shivers when I think about it (and, yes, I’m embarrassed that I paused to do something totally inconsequential).

She had surgery yesterday to have her femur put back together again. Recovery will be a lengthy and painful process, but Pam is tougher than any of us can imagine. For years, she has also stubbornly refused any suggestions that she do some exercise. Even now, when I raise the possibility of a personal trainer coming to the house for her and my mother, her sole response is, “We’ll hold that one in abeyance.”

All of us have a better shot at improved healthspan if we have a structured exercise programme. For more on this, read what I call The Gospel According to Peter (Outlive, by Peter Attia).

If you have a look at the numbers alongside, Saturday’s BP number is way outside the pattern that has been evolving. I’ll write more on that next week, but it was the known outcome of drinking several bottles (no-one’s counting) of sensational Pinot Noir with friends who have been with us in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.

I was on my bike for all the required sessions this week, including braving cold and wet conditions on Sunday.

I’m taking care to include at least five minutes of high intensity on each occasion. I’m also making a conscious effort to always breath through my nose.

There is something about this process, with its focus on particular physical activities, that is making me feel present in my body in the best possible way. This is a good place to be, even if the catalyst was a major risk factor.

The Week in Numbers

Sunday
BP: 158/82
Bike: 70 mins, evenly distributed, with 21 mins in zone 4

Monday
BP: 150/86

Tuesday
BP: 136/82
Bike: One hour in zone 2/3, with 10 mins in zone 4

Wednesday
BP: 145/81

Thursday
BP: 141/92
Bike: 70 mins on trails, half in zone 4 and the rest mostly in zone 3

Friday
BP: 152/83

Saturday
BP: 159/97
Bike: 90 mins on trails, with 16 mins in zone 4

The two numbers that make up blood pressure – systolic and diastolic – move together, but not necessarily in directly proportional increments. Systolic (when the heart contracts to eject blood) is the top number. Diastolic (when the heart is at rest between contractions) is the bottom number.

This has been the second week of the diastolic number edging towards the magical 80. The systolic number isn’t as regularly heading in the direction of the 130s, but it also hasn’t been doing a bunch of spiking. The movement of the numbers could be described as “crabbing”.

Well, at least there’s movement that feels in some way like progress.

My GP has applied for – and received – medical aid approval for the treatment of my hypertension as a chronic medication benefit. On the one hand, I know that I can call in the heavy artillery at any time. On the other, I am aware of the broom wagon following me, so I’m determined to keep pedalling.

I’ve learned that blood pressure has multiple moving parts. Here are a few correlations I’ve observed:

1. Poor sleep seems to elevate BP.
2. Immoderate consumption of wine (beyond a couple of glasses) elevates BP. Whether this is a function of diminished sleep or too much alcohol, I don’t know.
3. Coffee can cause BP to spike (although I haven’t measured the duration of that).
4. High intensity exercise seems to correlate with reduced BP.

I have not tried to reduce my salt intake, because I seldom add salt to prepared food (other than a pinch on my eggs in the morning).

I’m unable to say whether my consumption of cocoa has had any direct impact, given the other ongoing interventions. However, it’s facilitated the switch from coffee, which appears to have made a difference. Also, there are all kinds of feel-good effects from a high dose of good chocolate (i.e. low sugar and low/no alkalization). I’m keen to take this element to the next level, in due course, by taking part in a cacao ceremony.

I’m getting a second dose of feel-good from being fitter, specifically with increased VO2 max because of doing high intensity sessions. Interestingly, Discovery communicated this week that they will be rewarding members for improved cardio fitness, as measured by VO2 max.

It is to the field of fitness and training that I turn for reassurance in this project. It took many months of training for me to get fit enough to tackle multi-stage endurance events. This project could, similarly, take a few months, and there seem to be measurable gains.

So, while the numbers I’m watching may be crabbing, I’m certainly not crabby!

The Week in Numbers

Sunday
BP: 155/88
Bike: 73 mins in zone 2/3

Monday
BP: 149/88

Tuesday
BP: 155/90
Bike: One hour in zone 2/3, with 6 mins in zone 4

Wednesday
BP: 141/89

Thursday
BP: 154/94
Bike: 4 x 4 mins at 90% of max HR (zone 4)

Friday
BP: 152/81
Bike: One hour, mostly zone 2/3 with 5 mins in zone 4

Saturday
BP: 145/85
Bike: nil (stormy)

I was uncertain whether to title this report “Small Wins” or “In Familiar Territory”, so let’s kick off with my thinking behind the latter option. Doing regular interval training takes me back to the years of training for, and participating in, the Absa Cape Epic.

The foundation is that there is work to be done, and it must be done. Not negotiable. Over the past couple of weeks, this commitment got me out on my bike in truly horrible conditions. All of it is familiar territory that is weirdly comforting. In the column alongside, you’ll see reference to “4 x 4 at 90% of max HR”. The whole thing takes an hour, including warm up and warm down, but the magic happens in the middle section, which comprises four repeats – each lasting four minutes – of riding uphill at 90% (or slightly more) of maximum heart rate. You may think it’s torture, but somehow it isn’t. And it results in a special kind of fitness.

So, even though I’m harbouring a condition that could have potentially dire consequences if left unchecked, I’m feeling amazing.

The ‘small win’ is that on one day in the past week I’ve had a blood pressure reading that was within sniffing distance of 130 over 80. Also, the diastolic number has often been in the 80s.

Coffee has entirely been replaced with cocoa drinks, and wine is off the menu for most of the week. I had a very social evening on Friday, with seemingly inevitable consequential elevated blood pressure on Saturday morning. I should mention that it dropped significantly after relaxing on the couch with my morning cocoa drink.

My blood pressure was also elevated on Sunday morning. For that, I blame a tense Springbok versus Ireland game the evening before (with calming red wine!).

A friend who read last week’s report shared a link to the Netflix documentary, Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut. We clearly have loads to learn about the routes to health.

Blood pressure didn’t feature as one of the conditions being addressed through the gut health of the subjects being followed. Having said that, since switching to cocoa drinks, my gut seems to be telling me that I need to increase the amount of fibre in my diet, if you get my drift.

The next step would be to get the systolic number to head in the same direction as the diastolic. I hope this doesn’t end up being too much like herding cats.

The Week in Numbers

Sunday
BP: 164/93
Bike: 4 x 4 mins at 90% of max HR

Monday
BP: 152/87

Tuesday
BP: 150/90
Bike: One hour in zone 2, with a four-minute sprint

Wednesday
BP: 137/81

Thursday
BP: 153/90
Bike: 4 x 4 mins at 90% of max HR

Friday
BP: 152/84

Saturday
BP: 160/92
Bike: 2:13 on trail, mostly zone 2 and 3

Low expectations are a good starting point. This is kind of the default setting for Stoics, which strikes me as being a generally good life strategy.

I wonder if Stoics suffer from hypertension.

One of the variables that I have needed to address is alcohol, seeing as it was flagged by my GP. So, no wine from Sunday to Wednesday. While I didn’t experience any physical withdrawal, I was certainly triggered when seeing characters sipping glasses of red wine on whatever series I was watching.

From a BP perspective, the week was marked by a higher degree of consistency than previous. However, it was also the highest series of readings since I started this exercise. This was not what I was expecting. I really need to work harder at being a better Stoic.

Disappointed by this outcome, I joined the household in red wine from Thursday to Saturday (although obviously not in a solid multi-day binge!). I’ll give it another go this week. By “it” I mean abstinence.

Seeing as I didn’t get a result from sobriety (if anything, the opposite), I decided to go full metal jacket, by withdrawing coffee from Thursday. This also happened without any physical effects (i.e. no head ache etc).

What made the transition super easy is that I switched coffee for a cocoa drink (two heaped tablespoons mixed with a bit of hot water and a teaspoon of honey, topped with steamed milk from the coffee machine). I can’t say I’ve even craved coffee in this time.

There was no apparent drop in my blood pressure, although it did not increase post-cocoa as it does immediately post-coffee.

These days, no human activity is complete without AI, so I asked both ChatGPT and Perplexity if increased blood pressure could result from withdrawal of either alcohol or coffee. Apparently it is possible.

On the subject of AI, these answers strike me as being a little like the output of astrologers. They all toss such a large range of options into their answers that it’s possible to latch onto any part of it as a confirmation of something one wanted to believe was true.

Exercise was heavily rain affected. I forced myself out for just one interval session on Wednesday afternoon. I wonder if I can apply the Duckworth Lewis method to my week’s cycling?

I donated blood for the first time this week, partly as an experiment to see what it would do to my blood pressure (nothing, it turns out). Other than getting the admin done, as a first time donor, the whole experience was actually very pleasant. I’ll be back.

I have been given a list of natural supplements that could have an impact. One of these is Q10, which is presumably not the spray oil for dealing with squeaky hinges. If it comes down to a choice between a single pill prescribed by my GP, or a handful of capsules comprising lecithin, garlic, krill oil and Q10, I think I may lean in the direction of the single pill.

At the moment it’s looking very much like lifestyle adjustment isn’t the cure.

The Week in Numbers

Sunday
BP: 151/86
Bike: nil

Monday
BP: 153/94

Tuesday
BP: 151/94

Wednesday
BP: 156/94
Bike: 4 x 4 mins at 90% of max HR

Thursday
BP: 154/98
Bike: nil

Friday
BP: 159/92

Saturday
BP: 155/89
Bike: nil

Cacao vs cocoa tripped up my Wordle journey somewhere along the line. The latter, more obvious version, generally springs to mind first. I’m hoping that the former, denoting the natural powder derived from the unprocessed beans, will be a useful addition to my natural anti-hypertension remedies.

At this point I’m unable to draw any conclusions as to the therapeutic benefits of a daily 25g dose of cacao. What I can trumpet is the mood enhancing benefits of having a massive dose of ‘chocolate’ in the morning. Just the flavour is enough for the feel-good factor.

The specific elements that make the difference are the flavonols in unprocessed cacao. These are lost, to an increasing degree, the more the beans are alkalised, or ‘dutched’. This process makes the flavour more gentle, as well as making the cocoa more suitable for use in baking. However, it is possible to buy non-alkalised cacao.

Several studies have been done on the therapeutic benefits of chocolate. In summary, white chocolate is of no benefit and dark chocolate is better than milk.

I decided to go straight to source (i.e. cacao) by mixing roughly 25g with a little hot water, then adding a teaspoon or more of honey, completing the mixture with two tablespoons of plain yoghurt. This is an admittedly full-on hit of intense chocolate, but dark is my preference, so this a very happy space for me.

The specific therapeutic impact on high blood pressure is the resulting increase in nitric oxide.

In a few weeks time, if/when coffee is removed from my diet, this could be turned into an effective hot drink substitute, using milk instead of yoghurt.

My summary of the past week would have to be something along the lines of “I just don’t know”. Due to various factors, I was not able to fit in any intervals this week, but the cycling I did do had a good dose of high effort, not to mention volume.

The highest BP readings of the week were recorded after a night of nine hours’ sleep, which is unheard of for me. Perhaps I was suffering the effects of a long drive the day before, along with general fatigue.

One of the week’s discoveries is that the fatigue that results from over-training can increase blood pressure. Clearly a balance needs to be maintained!

This week’s plan is to do just one session of intervals, with a couple of zone 2 rides when weather permits. Cacao remains on the programme, and wine will be removed. If all the wagging fingers are correct, I’ll see changes within a week, or so.

In the absence of any decrease in my blood pressure this week, I’m looking for anything that can denote a step forward. The daily cacao regime I started has to count as an entirely guilt-free way of having chocolate. I’ll take my wins wherever I can get them!

The Week in Numbers

Sunday
BP: 156/88
Bike: 2:31 on tar, mostly zone 2 with 35% in zone 3

Monday
BP: 145/89

Tuesday
BP: 142/86

Wednesday
BP: 143/91

Thursday
BP: 149/93
Bike: 2:07 on tar and gravel, mostly zone 2, with about 40% shared between zones 3 and 4.

Friday
BP: 148/86

Saturday
BP: 148/86
Bike: 2:32 on tar and trail, roughly half in zone 2, balance shared between zones 3 & 4